Active Living: Lesson 3

Goal Setting for Personal Fitness

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📘 Curriculum Context

Learning Area: Health and Physical Education
Curriculum Level: Level 4 (aligned with Year 7 students)
Strand: Healthy Communities and Environments | Movement Concepts and Motor Skills
Key Competencies Developed:

• Managing Self
• Participating and Contributing
• Thinking
• Relating to Others

Big Ideas from the NZ Physical Education Learning Matrix:

• Understanding the influence of our choices and actions on hauora (wellbeing)
• Developing movement knowledge for lifelong participation in physical activity

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🕐 Duration

Total Time: 70 minutes
Class Size: 25 Year 7 students

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🎯 Learning Outcomes

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

1. Define what a SMART goal is and explain each component.
2. Set one SMART goal related to their own personal fitness.
3. Identify steps and strategies to work towards their goal.
4. Begin a visual representation of their personal fitness plan.

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🧠 Prior Learning

This is Lesson 3 in the "Active Living Essentials" unit. In previous lessons, students:

• Explored the concept of hauora and its relationship to physical activity
• Participated in various fitness-based activities to explore personal strengths and areas for growth

Students now begin applying these concepts by learning how to set personal goals using the SMART framework.

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🧩 Resources and Materials

• Whiteboard and markers
• Printed SMART Goal Planning Templates (one per student)
• Colouring pencils/felt tips for visual plans
• Printed goal setting flashcards (with goal examples)
• Cones and equipment for a dynamic warm-up (hoops, balls, etc.)
• Stickers or stamps for goal chart reward system (optional)

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🔄 Lesson Structure

1. Wāhanga Tahi: Mihi & Warm-up Game (10 mins)

Purpose: Build connection and physical engagement

• Mihi & Roll Call (2 mins) – Whakawhanaungatanga (building relationships)
• Warm-up Game: “Fitness Quest” (8 mins)
  A tag-based activity with movement stations. Each station has basic cardiovascular and strength tasks (e.g. 10 jumping jacks, 5 star jumps, or 15s plank). This reactivates movement awareness and gets students into a goal-focused mindset.

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2. Wāhanga Rua: Introduction to SMART Goals (15 mins)

Purpose: Understand the components of SMART goal setting in a relevant and youth-friendly way

Guided Class Discussion (10 mins)
Facilitator-led interaction on whiteboard:

• Ask: “What makes a goal a good goal?”
• Introduce the SMART acronym with examples:
  • S – Specific: “I want to run three laps without stopping”
  • M – Measurable: “I can track this by timing myself every week”
  • A – Achievable: “I haven’t been running, but 3 laps is doable”
  • R – Relevant: “It helps improve my endurance for kapa haka”
  • T – Time-bound: “I’ll try this by the end of the term”

Small Group Activity (5 mins)

• Use flashcards of goal statements. In groups of 3–4, students sort between SMART and non-SMART goals. Brief class share-back.

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3. Wāhanga Toru: Personal Fitness Planning (25 mins)

Purpose: Apply SMART goal concepts to personal fitness plans

Individual Planning (15 mins)
Each student receives a SMART Goal Planning Template and begins developing their OWN goal around:

• Endurance
• Strength
• Flexibility
• Positivity toward movement (Students can choose depending on what resonated in the warm-up)

Support students with prompts:

• “What’s your favourite movement activity?”
• “Is there something you're trying to work towards this term?”

Creative Portfolio (10 mins)
Begin creating a visual fitness plan (student portfolio) — a choice between drawing a comic strip of themselves reaching the goal, creating a poster, or writing a short action diary entry for two ‘future’ weeks.

Support diversity of learning styles and neurodiverse learners by allowing different mediums (verbal, written, artistic, scaffolded scribing, etc.).

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4. Wāhanga Whā: Kinaesthetic Closure – “Achieve It Challenge!” (10 mins)

Purpose: Reinforce learning with movement and verbal recall

• Set up 4 corners of the gym/class to represent each SMART component (S, M, A, T).
• Read aloud different statements (“I want to do 10 push-ups today” / “I have a goal to get fit someday”) – students move to the corner they think is being described.
• Quick debrief: “What makes a goal really successful?” / “Do you think you could achieve your own?”

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5. Wāhanga Rima: Reflection & Home Link (10 mins)

Written / Partner Reflection (5 mins):

• On the back of their plans, students write or tell a peer:
  • One thing they learned
  • One thing they're excited to try
  • What might be a challenge

Home Link Task (5 mins):

• Students are asked to share their SMART goal at home and reflect with a whānau member.
• Optional: Bring back a whānau signature or photo to earn class community points.

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📊 Formative Assessment

• Observation of group classification of SMART vs. non-SMART goals
• Quality and clarity of individual goal written on template
• Participation during reflective conversations
• Begin tracking each student's goal for future check-ins in lessons 4–6

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💡 Extensions & Differentiation

For advanced learners:

• Set multiple SMART goals for different areas of hauora (mental, physical, social)
• Design a “goal buddy” system to track mutual progress

For students with additional needs:

• Offer goal choices with pictorial prompts
• Provide sentence starters and accessible vocabulary options
• Pair with a peer supporter for clarification

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🪘Cultural Responsiveness

• Emphasise the holistic model of hauora to foster understanding of wellbeing beyond physical health.
• Encourage students to connect physical activity with cultural practices (e.g., strength for waka ama, coordination for poi).

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🧭 Next Steps

Lesson 4 Preview:
Students will explore strategies for staying motivated and sustaining action towards their SMART goals. Focus will include resilience (pakaritanga) and making small adjustments to overcome obstacles.

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🌱 Teacher Reflection Prompts

After the lesson, teachers may consider:

• Did the students find personal meaning in their goals?
• How effectively did students understand and apply SMART criteria?
• Which students may need extra scaffolding or check-ins in the next session?

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He oranga ngākau, he pikinga waiora – Positive feelings in your heart will raise your sense of self-worth.

Let’s help ākonga believe that their aspirations can become action.